tradegirl

Does Lucas ever wind up? Either the whole story is one big one up, and he's not actually foreign either. Or he's a bloke stupid and brave enough to sink his money into cars.

Maybe he got a good/better salesman? I think I remember Lucas saying he wasn't good at sales. Or maybe he found what works for him? Certainly quick progress though.

Welcome and good luck! You sound positive, which is always great.

2 were in the bodyshop, got those out and listed. 5 were in/awaiting mechanics, got 1 out and listed. I knew they all needed prep, but all mechanics/bodyshops have been dragging their feet more than usual (1 bodyshop had no electricity for a week ). For the most part they have healthy profit margins, so at least that's something!

Managed to get 3 out of prep and listed last week. So up to 4 listed. Could have sold the one but tried to squeeze more out of the deal. Was supposed to have a viewing today on another, but he hasn't called to confirm. Bit disappointing, but I know/hope something will shift soon. They're all higher than usual price bracket, so I can't wait to roll the money over.

We always MOT every car, regardless. But especially written off cars. New MOT always works in your favour.

2-3 sold. Now only 1 up for sale and about 6 stuck in prep.

I love a BMW. Obviously you keep your fingers crossed with the chains, but they're generally good sellers, good looks, and gearboxes are alright. Same goes for Mercs.

Same. It's good to have people in somewhat the same boat as you to connect with.

Haha, humble pie for him. It's always a good feeling when they try to haggle down and then cave.

Thank you. Sorry I called you EPV, I was half asleep!

EPV it was the spark plugs. And yes original stereo in it.

I jumped straight in, though my business partner knew more about cars than me. It's a learning curve, and sometimes lessons are costly. I personally would jump right in as opposed to working elsewhere. Or if you do, limit your time there. Sometimes the best learning comes from doing it yourself. Things do go wrong, sometimes massively so, and you might not take a wage in a while at times. It sounds like you have a good work ethic, and as long as you know what you're in for, then you'll do fine. Bear in mind your neighbours might be a pain. Shop carefully, prep well, factor your margins properly, and good luck.

Ok thank you. Electrician had it out and mentioned something about trying to solder something, but it not working. Not sure what I'm looking for but will take it out myself and have a look. It's nothing dodgy on the EML, as the EML was on when we bought it and we've sorted the fault and it went off. Will check the brake lights too and see what's going on. Thank you!

Hi everyone. Just got a Seat Ibiza in 2012 reg. Automatic When driving the instrument cluster is fine, no lights on, as long as the car is in any gear. So when stopped at traffic lights in D, it's fine. When I put it into P and take my foot off the brake, the handbrake light and cruise control light come on dimly in the background. As soon as I put my foot on the brake, they disappear. When I apply the handbrake, the coolant light, power steering light and cruise control light come on faintly in the background. The handbrake light is of course on, at full brightness as is the green "apply brake" light. When I apply the brake with the handbrake on, the power steering, coolant, and the green "apply brake" light are on dimly in the background. As soon as I put it into gear and release the handbrake, even without rolling, everything returns to normal. Any ideas? Looked online but nothing of the same symptoms. TIA.

Hang on, is this the 5mm branded tyres guy who wanted £1200 off the asking price?

you must really be doing something right with your adverts. That buyer from Inverness really must have had faith in your car!

Fantastic, thank you everyone! That's put my mind at ease a bit. Where we currently trade from (as you may have seen in another post) is surrounded by more affluent areas. But I'll soon be trading from 20 miles/30 minutes north of that, and I'll be surrounded by Birmingham and the Black Country (which isn't ideal) But if I work online hard enough and the cars are right and well presented, hopefully it won't make too much of a difference. Need to work that USP! Thank you!

Hi everyone. On average, obviously not taking into account walk ons, how far do your customers come from? Those of you who do detailed videos, do you find that people come from farther away than they normally would? I'm going to be trading from a new location, and I'm just thinking how much it's going to affect business. I will be doing videos, not as detailed as Simon's, but even so. I'm hoping that means where people would travel from an hour away, they'd be willing to travel an hour and a half. Thanks.

Haha! I didn't realise what you meant until I scrolled down the page.

I might be heading out on my own in a few months, and I wonder how the move will affect me. Currently our customers are Bromsgrove, Gloucester, Hereford, Malvern, Bristol, Solihull etc. All affluent areas. Meanwhile I live in Walsall, and I wonder how easy I'm going to find it, as the only affluent areas by me are Sutton Coldfield and Solihull. I'm only half an hour down the road, but I think even that half an hour/15 miles will make a massive different in the customer base. I hope I'm wrong.

I'm in a similar predicament myself. Curious to see everyone's response.

You can't win with some people. Have you tried bumping the price up?

No we did end up sending it through, and lost £3k off it. Point is, there was a persistent EML that pointed to one thing, but wouldn't go away. But if I sold that saying "there's an EML and the car intermittently goes into limp mode and we can't fix it. Drives fine otherwise (which is exactly how it was), I think the odds are very strong that it will come back and bite me in the ass if I sell it outside of auction. Which is unfair because I would have been completely honest, and hiding nothing.

The kids would have a photo of Robert Downey Jr rolling his eyes...Lol.